Challenges stalled Tema-Mpakadan rail line – Railways Ministry explains

The Ministry of Railways Development has identified obstacles hindering the operationalisation of the Tema-Mpakadan rail line, attributing delays to challenges encountered during construction.

Ing Kwabena Osei Bonsu, a technical advisor at the Ministry, revealed that the project faced a significant setback upon reaching the Akosombo area.

The demarcated line’s proximity to the hydro dam raised concerns that necessary blasting could jeopardise the dam’s structural stability.

“The line was going to use the Multi-modal Transport System so we were going to use Akosombo, transfer onto the Volta Lake and get to Buipe in the north but we realised that the state, where the current port is, is very small and couldn’t contain the kind of terminal that we wanted to put there and at some point within the Akosombo area, the line was going to be 50 metres to the dam and due to the kind of blasting that is needed to be done, we did not want to compromise the integrity of the dam, so we changed the alignment.

“Currently at Mpakadan, what we have is the rear head that has the rail line and several sitings with space for the storage of containers.

“The next thing we are going to do on that section is to build a ramp port so that when ships come to deck, we will be able to move the containers.”